Can Chris Christie move the GOP on immigration? (Editorial)

Gov. Chris Christie speaks during a ceremonial signing event of the 'Dream Act' legislation at Colin Powell Elementary School in Union City in January. The legislation, which was official signed by Christie in December 2013, lowers tuition costs at public colleges for New Jersey students who do not have lawful immigration status.
(JUSTIN LANE)

Bill Clinton moved Democrats to the middle on crime and welfare. Can Christie move Republicans on immigration?

Is Gov. Chris Christie the kind of leader who could move his party toward more sensible ground on immigration?

Not yet, at least. He leaves for Mexico today, but says he will not visit the region where unaccompanied children have been pouring across the border since the fall, and will instead focus on trade. The die-hard primary voters in the Republican Party seem to view the influx as Latinos as some kind of infection that needs to be cleaned out, so his reticence has a political logic to it.

But deep inside, Christie has a compassionate streak for immigrants, even those who entered the country illegally. He got into hot water when he was U.S. attorney by saying they are not committing a crime simply by being in the United States. That’s true because the crime, a misdemeanor, is crossing the border. Living here without documentation is a civil violation, not a not a criminal one.

He signed a law last December that allows undocumented students in New Jersey to pay in-state tuition at public colleges and universities. And this year, he expressed a basic compassion for the border kids, saying he felt “great empathy.”

In 2010, Christie even endorsed a path to citizenship for those who entered the country illegally. That is the crux of the stalemate, the piece that conservative Republicans cannot stomach. A bipartisan bill that passed the Senate last year by 68-32 would have opened that path, but the tea party faction in the House revolted, killing the bill.

Christie has a phony explanation for punting on immigration issues during this trip. This is a federal issue, he said, so he will leave it to federal authorities. Funny, because he has weighed in on a host of federal and international issues before.

He blamed President Obama for driving the nation to the edge of bankruptcy. He gave a speech on Israel earlier this year, then embarrassed himself by apologizing for characterizing the West Bank as “occupied” territory, a precisely accurate term that bothered the mega-donor Sheldon Adelson. And this week, he sounded like a macho teenager when he suggested that Russian President Vladimir Putin wouldn’t dare send troops into Ukraine on his watch.

“I don’t believe, given who I am, that he would make the same judgment,” Christie said. “Let’s leave it at that.”

So please, the problem here is not that Christie believes he should restrict himself to state issues. The problem is he fears he will lose votes in the Republican primaries if he touches a hot topic like immigration.

In the 1992 primaries, Bill Clinton moved Democrats to the middle on crime and welfare. If he hadn’t done that, he probably would have lost the general election.

Christie is in a similar spot on immigration. Mitt Romney won just 27 percent of the Latino vote in 2012 nationally. Christie did much better last year, winning 51 percent of New Jersey’s Latino vote. He can make a strong political case.

So here’s a request we never imagined we’d have to make: Please, Governor, speak your mind!